New Assignment
by knockout34
Summary: AU: What if everyone had anticipated Colby to take an assignment elsewhere? Don's team gets assigned a new agent just when things are starting to get back to normal and no one knows quite what to do. I've had this in mind for a long time and it's my first story so please be kind. Don't own Numb3rs. Rated M for language expected down the road.
1. New Assignment

It took all of Don's willpower to calmly walk out of the director's office and not to slam the door behind him. What was the director thinking? His team had been through a lot recently, what with Megan's assignment to the DOJ and Colby's whole spy affair. Don knew that his team needed to relax and get back into their normal groove. In fact, he had just promised them that nothing would be changing. But of course, the director had taken it upon himself to predict that Colby would leave the team for some better position. It would have left Don a man short, so the director acted quickly to find a new agent for the team. Even after Colby's decision to stay, the director thought that Don's team could still use some fresh blood.  
It could be worse, Don tried to convince himself as the elevator doors closed in front of him. He could have not let Colby stick around. Sighing, he hoped that it would be enough for the team.

Several moments later, the elevator chimed and Don stepped back into the bullpen. He took a moment to study his team from a distance. Liz and Megan were collaborating over a file. Liz had fit right into the team's dynamics and everyone had accepted her right off the bat. Maybe they could all do the same with someone else new. David and Colby were laughing in their cubicle. It hadn't taken them that long to rekindle every leftover aspect of their friendship over the last several days. In fact, outside of work, it looked like nothing had ever happened. Their teamwork on cases however, was not up to par. They were off; they struggled to read each other, struggled to remember how things flowed before. Don knew that eventually it would all work itself out, but maybe with a new agent learning the ropes, it would be a lot quicker. Deciding that maybe a new agent was indeed a good idea, he took a deep breath and headed over to the team.

"Hey guys," he called his team together. They all gathered by him and gave him their full attention. Don looked at his watch; he was beginning to second guess this whole thing again. "Alright, I know I just said that it was too late to start making any changes around here, but the director apparently had other plans." He paused, trying to ignore the worried looks on David and Colby's faces.  
"Is everything okay?" Liz asked.  
"Yeah, look, long story short, we got assigned a new agent and the director's not going back on the decision."  
They all exchanged looks. Don checked his watch again when no one said anything. I knew they wouldn't like this.  
"This happens all the time, completely normal for the bureau," Megan finally said after a few minutes. "I think we're all fine, this might be a good thing."  
"Fresh start," David added.  
Don let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.  
"Exactly. Guys, there's no denying what's happened over the past couple months and..and there's nothing we can do about it. We do, we need to move on, start fresh..." Don trailed off.  
"Have a little fun with the rookie?" Colby suggested, a playful gleam in his eye. Any leftover tension or doubt seemed to be released as everyone laughed.

N3N3N3N3N3

Don greeted his father as he walked into the house. He plopped himself down on the sofa and opened the file he was carrying. Alan glanced over the top of his newspaper.  
"New case?" he asked.  
"No," Don started, but was interrupted by Charlie and Amita coming in from the kitchen.  
"Hey, Don. You know, Amita and I were thinking about heading to that new restaurant downtown next week. We thought, if you were interested, we could make it another double date."  
"Yeah, yeah, that's sounds good," Don said, making eye contact with his brother briefly before looking down at the file again.  
"Did you need our help with something?" Amita asked, realizing what Don was holding.  
"No, it's not a new case. Actually, I'm getting a new agent on the team."  
"New agent?" Alan set his paper down. "I thought Colby is staying on."  
"He is, but, you know, apparently the director didn't think he would. He says it's too late to assign now so we'll just have to go with it."  
"It can't be too bad; it's another hand, isn't it?" Amita tried to help.  
"It is, don't get me wrong. You know, a couple months ago I would have been more than happy to welcome in someone new. We were...back then we were..."  
"Strong," Charlie finished. "You're worried that it's going to be too much stress on the team after everything that's happened."  
"Well, yeah. We all agree that we're taking a fresh start here, maybe some fresh blood will help that, but you know, can't help but think otherwise."  
"So, what's this guy supposed to be like? What's his background with the bureau?" Alan asked.  
"Actually she has quite the background in law enforcement," Don said thoughtfully, looking down the agent's file.


	2. Kailey Danvers

_This is the last day_.

It was the only thing that was keeping Kailey Danvers going on Monday afternoon: the fact that this would be her last day on desk duty. In her year since graduating Quantico, Kailey had yet to see any action. A normal Quantico graduate probably wouldn't complain, but Kailey had two and a half years experience on LAPD's K9 team behind her. She had seen field work almost every single day back then but now she rarely saw anything but a computer screen and files. When the director had called her in to reassign her to an actual team, Kailey took the news calmly, but her inner child was practically screaming with joy. She needed this, she needed to get out quick before she'd decide to quit and go crawling back to LAPD.

Kailey supposed the impatience for action was in her blood. She came from a long line of public service. Her grandmother had been a nurse in World War II, her grandfather a Marine, father was a fire chief, and she even had an uncle who was a lieutenant for LAPD. Her mother was the most influential figure, though; she had over forty years of experience raising and training K9 service dogs. By the time Kailey was in high school, she played a major role in the raising of the dogs too. It only made sense to become a cop for the K9 unit and her wide area of knowledge had gotten her into Quantico.

"Hey, I just caught wind of a rumor that you're leaving us?" Agent Tiffany Fitzgerald said, sitting on the edge of Kailey's desk with coffee in her hands. Kailey and Tiffany had graduated Quantico together and had stayed close when they were both brought back to LA.

"Yeah, the director called last week; it was supposed to be more on the DL, you know?"

"Well, now that everyone knows…. Where are you going? Miami? Washington? Chicago? Somewhere small maybe?" Tiffany asked, grinning anxiously.

"Try upstairs," Kailey said, laughing at the look of shock and disappointment on Tiffany's face. "He assigned me to Special Agent Don Eppes' team."

"_The _Don Eppes?"

"I guess."

"What do you mean, you guess? You have to have heard of him!"

"I have." But Tiffany didn't seem to hear her.

"Agent in charge, Albuquerque, takes a demotion for his family then brings his math genius brother in…"

"Tiff, I know," Kailey cut her off, not needing to be reminded of how popular this man's team was around the office.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna be an agent. Work my ass off, do what needs to be done; I can't focus on their success. I just need to do what I'm supposed to and leave it at that."

"You are way too calm about this."

"Believe me, I'm not, but I need to tell myself that, Tiff, come on, you know how I work."

"Are they allowing you to take the dog?"

"I don't know."

"And you're not worried about that?"

"She's my dog; as long as she gets to come home with me at the end of the day that's all that matters."

"You're unbelievable."

"I try."

A male agent walked up to the desk.

"Can we help you?" Tiffany asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Agent Danvers?"

"That's me," Kailey said.

"You're wanted upstairs by Special Agent Eppes." He turned on his heel and left. Kailey took a deep breath.

"Here it goes," she said, raising her eyebrows at Tiffany.

"Good luck!" Tiffany called after her.


	3. Uncle Gary and the Professors

**Author's Note: The first two chapters took place right after "Thirteen". This chapter is a tag to the episode "Robin Hood". I've always loved Will Patton so I couldn't help but do this =)**

"So?" Kailey asked Gary Walker as they walked outside the FBI building.

"So what?"

"The team? My assignment? You said you had some comments and I want to hear them."

"Alright, what do you want to hear first?"

"You're thoughts as my former boss, as a cop."

"Eppes has a solid team here, I enjoy working with them. A little unorthodox, the math, some of his methods…but they're very affective. You can't ask for much more than that. Once they start getting their act together again you'll see."

"I don't doubt it."

"My only other thought is this: Eppes, he's a tough son of a bitch, I'm just glad that he'll be able to handle anything you might decide to throw at him," he added with a smirk. Kailey rolled her eyes; he was always teasing her about being difficult. Before she could respond, Megan Reeves came walking up to them.

"Hey guys," she greeted with a smile. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Nope, we were just having a casual chat," Gary replied.

"Good. Kailey, Don wanted me to bring you with to CalSci, let you meet Charlie."

"Okay," Kailey said with a half shrug. She followed Megan to the parking lot and got into the passenger seat of her car.

"I guess I should have guessed that you'd know Lieutenant Walker pretty well," Megan said as she began to drive. Kailey looked at her questionably. "What?" Megan asked.

"You guys don't know he's my uncle? I thought it would be in my file."

"I don't read files on other agents before I meet them," Megan grinned. "I read a file and I automatically start profiling and I don't like to do that with coworkers and friends."

Kailey smiled back. She had only been on the team for two days, but she was already starting to feel right at home and Megan was the key to that. Although she was obviously showing Kailey the ropes, she wasn't condescending. She seemed to understand there was no need to say "do you know how to do that" or "do you have any questions"; that Kailey wouldn't be afraid to ask if she had to. Megan only made introductions and if Don wasn't around she made sure Kailey knew where she should be.

"So I'm guessing you've heard a bit about Charlie then?" Megan asked.

"Not just from Gary. There's talk all around the office, you know? He's pretty popular."

"Yeah, you might not understand him, but he's pretty impressive. Here we are."

The walk to Charlie's office was quiet. Kailey quickly tried to study the CalSci campus, taking in the buildings, particularly the one they were entering. She made mental notes of the turns they were taking in the hallways so that she could easily find the office if she was sent alone.

"Hey guys," Megan greeted two people as they walked into the office. Kailey took a quick look around the room before focusing on the two professors in front of her.

"Hey. Oh, hey, Don said you'd be coming by," Charlie greeted.

"Yeah, ah, this is Kailey Danvers. Charlie and Amita," Megan introduced.

"Ah, yeah, Don told us about you…about you joining the team, nothing else really," Charlie said awkwardly, extending a hand.

"It's really nice to meet you," Amita said, shaking her hand as well.

"Pleasure's mine, you guys have quite the name for yourselves around the FBI."

"Thanks," Charlie laughed. "So, it's another bank robbery, right?"

"Private bank," Megan said, handing him a file. "Thousands of safe deposit boxes, but we don't know how the thief got into them or which boxes he chose."

Charlie ruffled through the photographs while Amita looked over his shoulder.

"Oh. Check out these acetone smears. It's perfect for a hand path prediction."

"With an adaptation of Listing's Law, right?" Amita asked, taking the photos from Charlie.

"Whatever it is, that will do it, right?" Megan asked.

"Well, it's no different than a, uh…a golf swing," Charlie said.

"This is the best part," Megan whispered to Kailey.

"You know, by watching and analyzing the swing, we can tell from the point of impact where exactly the ball is going to end up without even looking at the fairway. Now imagine that the golfer is invisible. By looking at the motion of the club as well as the point of impact, we can reconstruct exactly how the golfer was positioned. Now, we're using the same two ideas here: your robber was moving his hands around, looking for specific safe deposit boxes in the dark. "

"Even though we can't see him, you know, this model will help determine how fast he was moving, which direction he was headed in, and hopefully what he was looking at."

"Wow, why couldn't my high school math teacher make analogies like that?" Kailey grinned. Charlie laughed.

"People are always amazed at how math can be explained," he said.

"This looks great, how long?" Megan asked.

"Give me a few hours to start the program and I'll give you a call."


	4. She's Alright

Alan and Larry entered Charlie's office expecting to find him there, but instead they found Don and Megan.

"Oh hey, Megan," Alan smiled. "Donnie, where's Charlie?"

"Said something about the supercomputer," Don shrugged as Megan greeted Larry.

"So how goes the investigation?" Larry asked. Megan looked sideways at Don.

"We're actually just here to collect copies of Charlie's work for the files. We, ah, we lost the guy, out of the country. Venezuela we think," Don said absently.

"Ah, you _think_," Alan said with a slight smirk.

"Yeah."

"A man's motif actually outweighs the crime," Larry said.

"Something like that," Don admitted.

"Overall the case was good. We tied up loose ends and we did make an arrest. And Kailey fits in pretty well," Megan said.

"Oh does she?" Alan asked, interested.

"Well, I mean if we can get someone like Walker to like us…." Don laughed.

"Walker?" Alan asked.

"Gary Walker is Kailey's uncle," Megan explained, "aside from actually having the ability to express her emotions; Kailey's a lot like him."

"Quiet and calm, yet with a very powerful presence," Larry agreed.

"Powerful?" Megan asked, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

"Merely meaning she's a little intimidating."

"She is very well built," Don agreed.

"Donnie," Alan scolded.

"What?!"

"No, Alan, he's right, she's definitely stronger than Liz and me," Megan said.

"For me it's the red hair," Larry said.

"Red hair?"

"In the fourth grade, the class bully was a redhead….there are some things you always associated with another."

"Ah come on, now, Charlie told me she's really nice," Alan said.

"Oh, I never said she wasn't," Larry said.

"Well, she defiantly knows what she's doing," Don said.

"Well, if you have Gary Walker for an uncle and a boss, I doubt you can take police work lightly," Alan said.

"It's true," Megan said.

"See, Donnie, there was nothing to worry about."

"Yeah," Don grinned. "Yeah, she's working really well. She's alright."


	5. David and Colby

**Tag to Primacy**

Even when you take a few days off, a job at the FBI always finds it's way to get to you. It was the story of David's life. Sure, it was nice to get away from the bad guys, the paperwork, and the action to sit down on the couch and watch a game with food and beer in hand. The problem was that there was always a small part of the brain that stayed focused on the FBI. Sometimes, David would just wonder about a case: where's the crime, who's the bad guys, what's the math? But other times, most of the time, it was just worrying about his teammates. They all had each other's backs, and the dynamics always shifted when somebody was missing. It was extremely difficult for David to hear that his partner had gotten injured when he wasn't there.  
_Even if he claims to be okay._  
David took a worried glance over at his partner. He still didn't quite understand everything about the team's most recent case, but what he did understand is that Colby got caught in the dam overflow. His hands were still bandaged due to the cuts from the wired bridge and he knew his partner's postures well enough to know that Colby was sore, if not in some serious pain. But it was Colby: he sure as hell wasn't going to take any pain medication unless it was necessary to function. The FBI physician wasn't all too worried about infection from the not-so-clean water, but that didn't really comfort David. He really wanted to take his friend into the doctor, but knew that it wasn't going to happen. Suddenly, here was a knock on his apartment door, interrupting his thoughts. He got up to get it.  
"Man, that better not be a doctor," Colby called, knowing perfectly well what his partner wanted to do.  
"I ain't a doctor, but I do prescribe beer and as much of this bar food as you can eat," Kailey said, walking through the door and plopping a heaping pile of bags and six packs onto the coffee table. David smiled. When he had invited her to join them, she had insisted on bringing food, but he hadn't dreamed this is what she had meant.  
"What?" Kailey asked him as his face showed his thoughts. "You expected me to bring some vegetable stir fry or something?" David shrugged.  
"This is much better," Colby said, popping off the top to a bottle and leaning back into the armchair. "Fried food, beer, and a game; now that's the way to end a case."  
"Agreed, but seriously, how are you doing?" she asked without hesitation. Colby rolled his eyes but she raised an eyebrow at him.  
"I've been a lot worse," Colby said. "But I've definitely been a lot better. These cuts are nothing," he said, raising his hands slightly, "but my back is going to be feeling that concrete wall for probably a week."  
David smiled again. There was just something about this girl; both of them had trouble hiding things and lying to her. And it wasn't just because she always found out the truth. She was caring like Megan, always had the team's best interests at heart. But, unlike Megan, she never pushed passed their original answer for more details. Kailey was, there was no other way to put it, a dude; always knowing when to shut up, kick back with a beer, and watch the game.  
"Satisfied?" Kailey asked David.  
"Yeah," he answered.  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You did not just invite her over to get me to admit I'm not feeling 100%," Colby said.  
"No, I did not just invite her over for that, man. She's one of us now. But, yeah, I wanted to know."  
Colby opened his mouth to retort, but seemed to think better of it. If the situation had been reversed, he would have like to know if David was really okay. Instead, he turned to Kailey.  
"Okay, so, if you're really one of us, you gotta promise us something."  
"Yeah?"  
"Promise that if you ever get hurt, you'll tell us the truth," Colby said.  
"Cuz we don't have the same ability," David added, agreeing fully with his partner. Charlie and Alan kept Don in check whenever he was hurt, and Megan and Liz weren't too shy to admit that they were hurt. But Kailey was just as stubborn as he and Colby were.  
"Deal."  
David clinked his beer bottle against hers.  
"Welcome to the team," he said. Colby raised his bottle to her before they all settled back to watch the game.


	6. Charlie's Party and Roxie

"You know, Dad, you really don't have to do this," Charlie said, looking up from a notebook while Alan set the dining room table.  
"Charlie, your book is flying off the shelves, it's on the top 100 list, this calls for celebration," Alan said. "And since we never know when everyone's going to be running off to a new case, dinner in is better than trying to go out to a restaurant."  
"Hello!" Don called as he walked in through the front door. "Dad, the grill smells great."  
"Alan spent the morning marinating the steaks," Amita said, walking in from the kitchen carrying napkins and silverware for Alan.  
"Going fancy, huh? Should I have worn something different?" Don teased.  
"No, no, it's not fancy," Charlie said. "It's not that special."  
"I don't know, Chuck, it's pretty amazing."  
"What's amazing is the fact that Dad is letting a dog in this house," Charlie said.  
"What?!" Don smiled. "Kailey's dog?"  
"Yes, as a matter of fact. When I asked if she had any plans for tonight she mentioned the dog, so I said bring it along," Alan said as the doorbell rang. Don opened it to let Larry and Megan in.  
"Hey guys," he said in greeting.  
"We have to do this more often," Megan said.  
"It is nice to get everyone together away from a case," Amita agreed.  
"My thoughts exactly," Alan said, winking at the two women. Don answered the doorbell again and let David and Colby into the house.  
"Kailey's right behind us," David said. "She brought the dog."  
"She brought the dog?" Megan asked.  
"Yes," Alan said, "I had her bring the dog."  
"Hey guys," Kailey said seconds later when she came into the door. "So, this is Roxie."

The black German Shepherd was standing perfectly calm at Kailey's heels, taking in the house and the people in it. She spotted Megan and walked over to her, nudging her hand with her muzzle.

"There's my running partner," Megan said, scratching the dog behind the ears.  
"She's very stunning," Amita told Kailey.  
"Yeah, her background isn't fully police dog; her mother's from a line of show dogs. It was a trade of some sort, trying to keep the bloodlines fresh or something."  
"You ever think about using her, Donnie?" Alan asked, walking over and petting the dog as well.  
"Well, yeah, but that's not my call," Don answered.  
"We're not officially partners according to the FBI. I got assigned to Don's team before all the paperwork went through."  
"Dad, you should probably check the steaks," Charlie reminded his father.  
"Oh! Right!" Alan said, hastily making his way towards the kitchen and out into the backyard.

N3N3N3N3

After dinner, everyone gathered in the Eppes' living room. Alan and Larry were playing chess while everyone else drank and talked. Roxie was moving between different people, taking up as much attention as she could.

"I supposed I should say something about the real reason we're all here," Megan said. "Charlie, the book is fantastic."  
Charlie blushed slightly as he tried to wave off her compliment, becoming very focused on petting Roxie.  
"Yeah, Charlie, I finished it yesterday; good work, man," David said.  
"It is good," Don said.  
"I just got my copy, give me a week to finish it, but I like it so far," Kailey said.  
"I...I haven't read it, man," Colby said, shaking his head.  
"Big surprise there," Alan and Larry suddenly said together. Everyone laughed.

**Author's Note:**

Thanks for reading my story and being patient; I lost the last chapter and it took a while to get it back. "Charlie's Party and Roxie" is the last chapter in New Assignment. This series of scenes was just to introduce Kailey and Roxie into the Numb3rs mix. I'm planning on writing other long stories and one-shots in the Kailey-verse.

School starts back up again within a week, but hopefully I'll be posting on a regular basis. I can't promise anything but I'm very willing to take suggestions: story lines or if you'd like to read an episode from seasons 4 and/or 5 with Kailey written into it I'd be more than happy to attempt. While season 6 had good episodes, I personally thought that the overall story line sucked; so eventually I'd like to write my own.

Please be aware, however, that I am sticking with the story lines of seasons 4 and 5...including the pairings Don/Liz, Don/Robin, Larry/Megan, Charlie/Amita. I'm also a shipper of David/Claudia, and would like to keep Alan/Millie. The eventual plan will be Kailey/Colby. If anyone has any suggestions for Liz I'm all ears.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing!


End file.
